Cross-country: Gilbert boys take first in season opener

Gilbert sophomore Rees Tyler found himself locked in a four-way sprint to the finish of the Class A boys’ race of the Gilbert Invitational on Thursday at the Iowa State Cross Country Course.

Tyler, Nevada’s Malachi Hornbuckle, Dallas Center-Grimes’ Jacob Waymire and Boone’s Caleb Cobbs came down the finishing chute in near lockstep.

But Tyler’s kick proved the strongest, and he gutted out a .06 second win over Hornbuckle in 18 minutes, 47.36 seconds to Hornbuckle’s 18:47.42.

“My coach just told me to go out at a controlled pace and finish the race strong,” Tyler said. “I know our training has led, not for this meet but for the state meet, to train through this. I knew we’d put in the work, and I knew it’d pay off.”

The Tigers won the team title as well, finishing with 45 points to Dallas Center-Grimes’ 51 and Nevada’s 66.

Nathan Patel took sixth for the Tigers in 18:48.17. Edison Weig and Noah Nusbaum finished seventh and eighth for the Cubs, in 18:48.24 and 18:48.25, respectively.

This was only the third time in eight seasons, after success at the state meet, by coach Aaron Thomas’ estimation, the Tigers have won this meet.

Thomas pointed to summer workouts as a difference maker, especially for Tyler, who he held back training slightly last season.

The bounceback for a freshman, Thomas said, is longer than that of a more physically mature runner. Tyler is now a year older and quickly established himself as the Tigers’ No. 1 runner.

“Last year, we had such a tight pack where on any given meet, someone else could be our (winner),” Thomas said. “Early on this summer and in workouts, Rees kind of established himself and the kids kind of realized, ‘Yep, you’re there.’ Now, two through five can be really good.”

Now, the Tigers will need to sustain their early success, and Thomas thinks his team is poised to do that.

“We ran about what I expected, but I know there’s still room for improvement,” he said. “I thought we ran well, but I know we can run better.”

In Class B, South Hamilton took second with a trio of finishers in the top five. Quinton Grove took second, with Logan Peters and Josiah Brown taking third and fourth, respectively.

Madrid won the Class B team title with 55 points to the Hawks’ 67. Roland-Story was third with 75. Colo-NESCO finished 13th.

Grove and Peters, who finished in 18:21 and 18:22, respectively, ran two completely different races.

While Peters likes to go out hard and hang on to the finish, Grove takes a more measured approach and paces.

“I know he’s always going to slow down, unless it’s a really flat course,” Grove said of his teammate. “Last year at Nevada, I tried it and it didn’t end very good.”

Grove reeled Peters in just past the two-mile mark of the race, and while he led the team Thursday, the competition will be on all season.

“I’d say our top three are always competing, top two definitely always competing,” Grove said, noting Peters’ take-off from the start often gives him the giggles.

While Grove topped Peters in the season opener, both acknowledged the results could change the next time out.

“He pushes me because my race is completely different from his,” Peters said. “He pushed me at the end, and I push him at the beginning.”